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20 000 000 Mark Sobernheim
| Issuer | Stadt Sobernheim (City of Sobernheim) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
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| Value | 20 000 000 Marks (20 000 000) |
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| Obverse description | Notgeld emergency voucher issued by the City of Sobernheim, dated 20 September 1923, with the denomination "ZWANZIG MILLIONEN MARK" stated in bold letterpress within the central text block. The note carries a serial number, an official municipal stamp, and the mayor's manuscript signature as required authentication elements, with a legal validity clause printed in smaller type below the main inscription. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 Millionen / Stadt Sobernheim / Gutschein über ZWANZIG MILLIONEN MARK / Dieser Gutschein ist ein gültiges Zahlungsmittel. Der Zeitpunkt, mit dem der Schein seine Gültigkeit verliert, wird öffentlich bekannt gemacht. / Sobernheim 20. Sept. 1923. / Gutscheine ohne Nummer, Stempel und Unterschrift des Bürgermeisters haben keine Gültigkeit. |
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| Comments |
Sobernheim is a small town on the Nahe river in the Rhineland, and like hundreds of similarly sized German municipalities, it issued its own emergency currency during the hyperinflation of 1923 — not because it had monetary authority in any meaningful sense, but because the Reichsbank simply could not print and distribute legal tender fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. By the time denominations like this 20-million-mark note were being issued, the figures had become almost satirical: the purchasing power implied by "20,000,000 Marks" in August or September 1923 could be wiped out within days by the next round of price increases.
Notgeld at this inflationary extreme was typically lithographed locally or regionally on short notice, which accounts for the wide variation in paper quality and print consistency found across surviving examples from small issuers like Sobernheim.